Justin Baldoni’s publicist Jennifer Abel reportedly quit working with her past employer due to ‘bullying’ amid the alleged smear campaign against Blake Lively over the summer.
This comes one day after Baldoni’s ex-publicist sued his current publicist, Abel, in another turn of events surrounding the It Ends With Us drama.
Baldoni, his production company Wayfarer Studios and his crisis manager Melissa Nathan, in addition to Abel, are all named as the defendants in the suit alleging defamation and breach of contract.
Concurrently, Baldoni is also facing a legal battle against Lively after his former It Ends With Us co-star sued him last week for sexual harassment and engineering a smear campaign against her.
A source close to Baldoni’s publicist Abel told The Wrap that she claimed there was ‘bullying’ going on at Stephanie Jones’ public relations firm Jonesworks, where Abel was once a partner and the same one that previously represented the actor.
Over the summer, Abel departed Baldoni’s ex-publicist firm, Jonesworks, and founded her own firm, RWA Communications.
Then, Baldoni and his production company Wayfarer Studios left Jonesworks to join Abel at her new firm.
Justin Baldoni’s publicist Jennifer Abel reportedly quit working with her past employer due to ‘bullying’ amid the alleged smear campaign against Blake Lively over the summer; pictured December in Los Angeles
One interesting thing to note is the conflicting timelines of when Abel is said to have quit as TheWrap is reporting that she voluntary resigned from Jonesworks on July 10 and set her departure date as August 23, but she was terminated on August 21.
However a previous Variety report said that Abel was fired by Jonesworks on August 21, just days after It Ends With Us was released.
On Tuesday, less than a week after Lively sued Baldoni, Jones filed a lawsuit in the New York Supreme Court against Abel and the rest of the crisis management team behind the alleged Lively smear campaign.
Jones claimed she fired Abel after discovering she was stealing documents from her firm as she prepared to start her own business.
Abel allegedly took ‘documents and client information while also secretly contacting Jonesworks’ clients to pave the way for her departure.’
Jones and her agency are suing Abel for breach of contract, claiming she violated her employment terms and conspired to steal her clients, and also accusing her of defamation.
According to legal documents obtained by The New York Times, Jones claimed she was ousted from representing Baldoni and Abel poached her clients.
When she discovered what Abel was secretly doing, she terminated her employment at Jonesworks.
This comes one day after Baldoni’s ex-publicist sued his current publicist Abel (pictured) in another turn of events surrounding the It Ends With Us drama. Baldoni, his production company Wayfarer Studios and his crisis manager Melissa Nathan, in addition to Abel, are all named as the defendants in the suit alleging defamation and breach of contract; pictured December 2014 in Los Angeles
On Tuesday, less than a week after Lively sued Baldoni, Stephanie Jones (pictured) filed a lawsuit in the New York Supreme Court against Abel and the rest of the crisis management team behind the alleged Lively smear campaign
Then, Abel voluntarily returned her work phone to Jonesworks ‘in the presence of an employment lawyer.’
It was from that same device where the incriminating messages and emails sent between Baldoni and his team and included in Lively’s complaint ‘were forensically extracted directly from that company phone’ and ‘have been preserved in their original state.’
However, Abel is now claiming that she was not fired; rather, she voluntarily resigned on July 10, according to the insider’s statement to The Wrap.
She reportedly quit over ‘bullying’ from Jones.
The targeted behavior was allegedly directed towards another colleague, Matthew Mitchell — Abel’s partner on accounts for Baldoni, the actor’s production company Wayfarer Studios as well as the ‘majority of other clients which she also references in her texts.’
The source explained that Abel’s last day was set for August 23 — two weeks after It Ends With Us was released.
Even though Abel initially resigned on July 10, Jones reportedly fired her on August 21 after learning of her alleged efforts to poach clients.
The insider close to Abel claimed: ‘Jennifer tendered her resignation in July and had agreed to stay on until August 23. She was terminated early after Jonesworks discovered that she had stolen over 70 documents.
Concurrently, Baldoni is also facing a legal battle against Lively after his former It Ends With Us co-star sued him last week for sexual harassment and engineering a smear campaign against her; pictured August in New York City
Abel (pictured) is now claiming that she was not fired; rather, she voluntarily resigned on July 10, according to the insider’s statement to The Wrap. A source close to her said she claimed there was ‘bullying’ going on at Jonesworks
The individual also alleged the defamation lawsuit against Abel was ‘retalitatory behavior’ because Baldoni and Wayfarer left Jonesworks for Abel’s new firm.
‘They were not “stolen,” nor were any other clients.’
The insider also claimed the other clients who left to join Abel’s company were clients she already had working relationships with prior to her joining Jonesworks.
One of them included a client that Abel ‘had personally signed while at Jonesworks who had no relationship with Stephanie Jones,’ per the insider.
In email correspondence obtained by The Wrap that appears to be Abel’s resignation letter to Jones, the former Jonesworks partner described an atmosphere where ‘things continue to escalate between the two of us’ and that she ‘was constantly feeling like I was letting you down.’
Abel wrote to Jones: ‘I take full responsibility for my part in all of this. I’m not proud of how emotional I get in these situations, or the way I choose to step away when I feel like we are not making progress in our conversations.’
‘I know I have things to work on as well with my communication, and this whole situation has been a good learning moment for me on the ways I need to improve how I get my point across.’
Abel’s resignation letter, which was dated roughly a month before the theatrical release of It Ends With Us, does not specify the issues between them.
Abel’s resignation letter, which was dated roughly a month before the theatrical release of It Ends With Us, does not specify the issues between them. However, its timing coincides with a period of escalating tensions between Baldoni and Lively, when the public was beginning to turn against the actress; pictured in movie still
Earlier this year, fans began to question what was going on behind-the-scenes between the It Ends With Us castmates — specifically leading star Lively and her co-star-slash-director Baldoni. While promoting the movie, which follows the story of a traumatic love story and intimate partner violence, rumors of an alleged feud started swirling online; pictured in movie still
Months after the frosty promo tour and a seemingly contrived, negative media blitz — and ahead of Christmas — Lively filed a lawsuit against Baldoni. In her lengthy legal complaint, she accused Baldoni of sexual harassment and also orchestrating a smear campaign with the intention of ‘destroying’ her reputation to discredit her if she made public his misconduct on set; pictured in movie still
However, its timing coincides with a period of escalating tensions between Baldoni and Lively, when the public was beginning to turn against the actress.
This suggests that the alleged smear campaign may have played a role in those conflicts.
Earlier this year, fans began to question what was going on behind-the-scenes between the It Ends With Us castmates — specifically leading star Lively and her co-star-slash-director Baldoni.
While promoting the movie, which follows the story of a traumatic love story and intimate partner violence, rumors of an alleged feud started swirling online.
Months after the frosty promo tour and a seemingly contrived, negative media blitz — and ahead of Christmas — Lively filed a lawsuit against Baldoni.
In her lengthy legal complaint, she accused Baldoni of sexual harassment and also orchestrating a smear campaign with the intention of ‘destroying’ her reputation to discredit her if she made public his misconduct on set.
An exposé by The New York Times detailed his alleged inappropriate behavior during production of their movie and his retaliation against her.
Baldoni has denied all of the allegations.
